I finally finished ER last night. I don't think I realised at the time what a good finale it was and I'm surprised that it never seems to be up there in lists of the best ever final episodes etc. As a PP said, I loved that we got little epilogues to loads of the characters and one of my favourite things about ER really shone through - that it is/was a workplace, and like many workplaces, people pass through and some make long-lasting friendships and relationships but ultimately nobody was irreplaceable and the workplace will always continue to evolve. I loved the fact that the final episode contained so many references and callbacks to the pilot and that it centred around the opening of the Joshua Makelo Carter Centre. I also loved the very last scene - reunions and goodbyes interrupted as a trauma rolls in and everyone gets busy with work, and County General continues to operate...
So, like the geek that I am, and feeling utterly bereft at the end of this re-watch, I then watched the original pilot straightaway afterwards - just to compare. A couple of things really stood out for me - firstly, when Carter was giving Rachel Greene a tour of the ER in the finale, he used the same script, word for word, as Benton gave him on his first day. He taught Rachel how to place an IV, in a scene that I thought was a bit out of place in the finale but again, his instructions were Benton's - word for word! Even down to the little extra tips he gave. They both also said something about "the camaraderie really makes this place" but Benton said it in a voice dripping with sarcasm whereas Carter was completely sincere. I LOVED this on so many levels - the Carter/Benton relationship is, for me the absolute core of ER at its peak.
What also stood out for me though, was how young the main characters were in the pilot. Green, Benton and Doug were 2nd (or third?) year residents and Lewis was first year and it was these characters that we followed in the early season. Mortgensen was Chief of the ER but we barely saw him, he wasn't a main character, and I don't know who the Attendings were. As these characters progressed though and the seasons evolved, the focus was more on the Attendings and the Chief. In the final seasons, the interns and residents were just an annoyance and seemed to need hand holding for everything while the viewer's main focus was on the Attendings but in those early episodes, when Greene etc were residents, they seemed to run the place themselves without needing the help. Obviously there were key episodes where they got in over their heads like Love's Labours Lost but even then I don't recall any talk of Attendings. So who were the Attendings in those early years?